


Best Bet

by Jinmukang



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood: Lost Days
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, Canon-Typical Violence, Damian Wayne is Batman, Dick Grayson is Robin, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Jason Todd is a good big bro, Reverse Robins, School Shootings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:28:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28248387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jinmukang/pseuds/Jinmukang
Summary: Jason Todd came back to life to find not only has he been replaced by a bright eyed circus kid, but Bruce is dead and Damian has taken up the mantle of Batman.Jason would prefer to stay out of that... however when Riddler decides to try and kidnap the kid from his school, it's not like he can sit back and watch.(Reverse Robin AU)
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd
Comments: 17
Kudos: 308
Collections: BatFam Winter Gift Exchange 2020





	Best Bet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [neptance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neptance/gifts).



> (batfam18+ server gift exchange)
> 
> This is for the lovely and amazing Shell! Shell, you are such a lovely friend and I'm so blessed to have gotten to know you these past few months. I hope you enjoy this fic, I tried my best to fit most of what you love into it <3
> 
> \--
> 
> Fav character: Dick Grayson
> 
> Three Favorite relationships (romo and non-romo marked) All non romantic) Dick & Jason, Dick & Donna Troy, Jason & Alfred
> 
> What are three things you love to see? (Think tropes or moods) Reverse ages batkids, batkids finding each other without bruce au, protective siblings

Jason knows it's probably a bad idea to hang out so closely to Gotham's esteemed junior high, especially in the middle of the day and in full gear. He's barely been back in Gotham for more than a few weeks, and the entire time he's been carefully picking through the bones of Black Mask's drug empire like a crow and avoiding the new Batman and his newest boy wonder _Robin_ like the plague. 

Jason knows Bruce is dead. He knows _Damian_ took up the cowl and took charge over the new kid Bruce acquired like a charm on a chain bracelet. He knows the kid decided to break the pattern of being the Shadow and choose his own name and his own colors. 

Jason knows the kid goes to this very school that he's watching today. He doesn't want to be caught or found out yet, and it almost feels like he's poking a stick at a sleeping bear staking out here. However, he's been watching this particular drug dealer for the past 48 hours and Jason doesn't want to lose her now, especially as she's parked herself outside a building brimming with young teens and stressed teachers. 

Besides, it should be fine. School's been out for the past two hours, the only things going on now are clubs and various rehearsals. There's apparently a competition going on as well inside the auditorium, but it's nothing special. Just some sort of mathlete thing, Jason thinks. 

He sighs and shifts on his perch on the rooftop located across the school, looking down at the dealer's car with a frown. This whole operation to take down these major bosses in Gotham is going, admittedly, slower than what he was planning. But Damian was always a force to be reckoned with, even before he was Batman. Even before—Talia said—he snapped last year and killed the Joker after the bastard kidnapped Tim; trying to brainwash and torture him.

Jason's sure that's the first kill the guy's made since his days in the league, and Jason's positive he feels beyond guilty over that favor he did for the world. 

But it's not done yet. Joker may be dead, but Black Mask is still getting children addicted to drugs and ruining other civilians's lives. Two-Face is still shooting up courthouses, Penguin is still locking people into shady deals of all kinds, Scarecrow is still spreading mass panic and fear. Gotham is still crawling with murderers and psychopaths, and it's only a matter of time before one of them manages to get their hands on little _Robin_ and do the same to him that Joker did to Jason. 

While Jason doesn't appreciate coming back to life to see a new kid having replaced him in the family, he also isn't entirely heartless. 

Black Mask is simply the first on his hit list. 

He watches his target and resists fidgeting; waiting rather impatiently for something to happen. Normally, drug dealers don't just hang around outside schools, so Jason suspects she already has a target or customer and she's just waiting for them to come out so she can most likely just pass on word of the next deal location. Handing out drugs on the school campus would be incredibly stupid of her to do. 

Just as Jason's about to die of boredom, something finally happens, however not in the way Jason expects. Through the almost calm silence of the school parking lot pierces a loud and trembling alarm. Jason's target stills in her car and looks at the building with a confused scowl on her face as various lights begin to flash warningly. 

The fire alarms have been tripped. 

Then, suddenly, there are three unmistakable _bangs_ that come from within the school.

Gunshots. 

Jason's target turns on her car and drives away immediately, and Jason doesn't follow.

The bust is over, he might as well figure out who the hell is shooting up an empty school. 

He moves from his perch on the opposite roof and runs through the parking lot, his ears sharp for the noises of more gunfire. Out an emergency door to his left bursts out a balding man and three young panicking teens. 

Jason grabs the man by the back of his collar-up shirt and slams him against the wall. One of the three teens doesn't even stop to exclaim—they just run. 

Smart kid. 

The other two, however, stick around to panic louder and babble. Jason ignores them.

"What happened!" Jason demands. The man's eyes go wide as he catches sight of the Bat symbol on his chest. 

"You have to help him," the man begins to say while tripping over his words. "They came in during the finals- grabbed one of the kids and shot their guns and told us to _get out_ and-"

A kidnapping. This is one of the upper ended schools in Gotham, where the rich and fortunate send their little lovelies when homeschooling proves to be too much work and effort. 

He gives the man a hard look. "Where."

"T-the assembly hall-"

Jason mentally maps out the interior of the school before letting go of the man's collar. He doesn't look back as he turns heel and runs into the blaring building. 

Thankfully, the school is as empty as he expected and he doesn't run into any fleeing students or staff that give him any trouble. He eventually comes to a halt outside one of the many assembly double doors and presses his back against the wall. The helmet enhances sounds with various technology that took him way too long to understand, but it only allows him to hear muffled voices through the continuous blaring of the fire alarms.

Jason doesn't need perfect hearing to know those voices sound pissed. Frantic. 

Jason grabs one of his guns from the holsters on his thighs and then quietly opens one of the doors. He slips inside and creeps behind the wall separating the giant room with the hidden walkway. There's gaps in the wall that lead into the main room, and it's there where Jason once again presses his back. 

Only here, he has a weapon in his hands and that voices are much clearer. 

That; and Jason finally has eyes on the problem. 

It's definitely a kidnapping alright, but not necessarily one Jason was expecting. Anybody who's lived in Gotham for more than a year knows how to tell a normal criminal apart from goons working under various Rogues. The small group of people in front of him are dressed in pressed, yet cheap looking green suits with little red dots patterning the fabric. From here, it looks like ugly little polka dots, but Jason's willing to bet his life that those little dots are actually question marks. 

Then, Jason finally finds the poor kid trapped in the middle of this. A small boy who looks like he should be in elementary. Black hair. The kid's hands are hidden behind him, trapped between his back and the chest of the man holding him. 

The kid doesn't look too happy. He looks the perfect combination of annoyed and… smug. Which is definitely strange, considering any normal kid would be freaking out being not only kidnapped, but being kidnapped by goons belonging to a rogue of Gotham.

What do Riddler's goons want with this kid?

"Boss isn't gonna be happy the alarms were tripped," one goon says, tapping their fingers on their thigh. "Like, when are the cops gonna show up?"

"Not before reinforcements," another replies with a scoff. "The cops are a joke. They'll be here when they feel like it. We have more than enough time to get the brat to the boss."

"You're forgetting something," Jason speaks up, strolling around the wall corner. He's heard enough. "The cops aren't usually the first to show up."

Immediately, guns are pointed in his direction, but Jason doesn't pay them too much mind quite yet. It visibly takes the goons a few seconds each for them to look at his outfit, the symbol on his chest, and the helmet on his head to recognize who he is. He hasn't done anything too major in Gotham quite yet, but he has worked up a reputation going against Black Mask like he is. A reputation that makes low level goons both fear and respect him. 

"Red Hood? What are you doing here?" One of them asks, though Jason keeps his eyes on the kid. 

The brat looks surprised by Red Hood's entrance, however he doesn't look scared or worried. His eyes widen for a second, and then narrowed with barely contained suspicion. 

Smart kid. 

"Let's just say I heard the alarms and gunshots and decided to remind whoever was in here that I don't take kindly to kids getting hurt in my territory."

A few of the goons shuffle their feet nervously. The big one holds the kid to their chest just a little tighter. The seemingly leader narrows their eyes just a smidge. 

However, their mouth splits into a sly grin. "Well, no kids here have been hurt. And, if you look closer you'll find that this isn't any normal kid anyway."

Jason can't help it, he lifts a curious eyebrow behind his helmet and crosses his arms over his chest, hoping his posture alone is an invitation to continue. It works. 

The group leader waves their hand, which causes the grunt holding the kid to step forward, bringing the kid front and center for Jason to get a good look at. "This, my friend, is Bruce Wayne's newest brat. Richard Grayson."

Ice floods Jason's veins. He shifts his glare away from the leader onto the kid and studies him just a bit harder. Jason hasn't exactly sought out information on Richard other than his fighting style and skills, but looking at him now, he can almost imagine a black domino mask covering his electric blue eyes. The kid's scowling at Jason, almost like he can see through the armor and is already sizing him up for battle. 

Jason almost wants to turn away and forget that he stumbled upon this in the first place. He doesn't _want_ to mess with Batman's Robin this early into his return, let alone stick his nose into their civilian lives. 

But he knows he can't. Right now, the kid is just a kid. He's not getting out of this one on his own, and Jason finds himself uncomfortable with the idea of letting the goons do what they want to him until Damian figures out something's wrong and comes to the rescue. 

Jason looks away from Richard. "What does the Riddler want with Gotham royalty?" 

"You know how the boss is," one of the lackeys says. The big one places their hand on Richard's shoulder, causing Richard to wince. "Once there's a puzzle he doesn't understand, he becomes obsessed with figuring it out. He's gonna use the kid to figure out where Wayne disappeared off ta."

"And take down Batman in the process?" Jason asks, forcing his voice into interest. He ignores the narrowed look Richard is giving him.

"Naturally," the leader says with a smirk. "Hood, I know this isn't normally your thing, but if you don't get in our way and help us deliver the kid to the boss, we'll make sure you're well rewarded."

Before Jason can answer, another grunt speaks up. "Reinforcements are almost here, cops will be here any minute."

"What d'ya say, Red?"

Jason relaxes his folded arms. They're all grinning at him like they've convinced him. The kid looks as tense as a cobra. He smiles.

"Let the brat go now, and I'll let you all leave with your lives and limbs intact."

And the leader has the audacity to look shocked by that. The others shuffle nervously. Richard hisses through clenched teeth as the one holding him tightens his grip ever so slightly. 

"You can't be serious," the leader protests, "the brat's worth _millions_ -"

"I said," Jason growls, "hand the kid over, or I'll introduce each of ya a bullet to kiss."

"We don't have time for this," someone growls. Jason hears the sound of a cheap gun clicking.

A trigger is pulled. The adrenaline of a quickdraw and the kick of a bullet leaving the chamber of his gun is familiar. The grunt who was just about to attempt to shoot Jason stumbles back with a cry. Before anyone else can do anything, Jason shoots the shoulder of the lackey holding the kid. The kid smartly throws himself to the side to hide behind a long table that was set up near the assembly stage. 

By the time anyone can get their bearings, Jason has downed three of them. The last few do their best to turn the tides, but they're no match for Jason. Jason's sure that if Richard was wearing a different uniform he'd be able to take out these pathetic excuses for bad guys down himself. No wonder they were on a kidnapping mission, anything else would be too much for them.

A few bangs of his gun, a couple kicks, and a pistol whip later, Jason's standing in the wreckage of the attempted kidnappers, all pathetically crumpled to his feet. For a moment, there's nothing but the sound of piercing fire alarms and his own panting behind the helmet. He stretches his neck to the side and is awarded a satisfactory crack.

He turns and walks to the table. Behind it, he finds little Richard, stiff as a board like he's been caught doing something. 

He was trying to get whatever is restraining his hands behind him off, he realizes with slight amusement. However, he doesn't have much time to smile and watch the kid desperately try _not_ to be Robin. 

He reaches forward and grabs the kid by the upper arm, dragging him to his feet. Richard lets out a yelp and attempts to struggle out of his grasp, but Jason doesn't let him. "C'mon, kid. I gotta get you out of here."

"I'm fine here, thanks," Richard says with a smile, yet somehow makes it sound like a snarl. Jason watches the kid's eyes slide past Jason's shoulder towards the mess of bodies behind him. He loses a little bit of color to his skin and sets his jaw. 

Behind his helmet, Jason rolls his eyes. "Rubber bullets," he explains because there's no way he'd actually kill people in front of a child, even a super one, "they're all just knocked out. Now come on, I have ta get you out of here before trouble comes."

There's that stubborn set to Richard's jaw again. Man, Jason hopes he's like this with Damian, because while it's frustrating at this moment, it's hilarious to imagine it happening to the big bad older brother. "You still kill people. I'd rather take my chances with the cops."

Okay, now he's being unreasonable. "You and I both know the cops ain't gonna be the first ones here. You heard what they said about reinforcements? I reckon they're already here. I'm the best chance you got."

Richard bites his lip, his feet braced on the floor and muscles coiled under Jason's hand. Jason can practically see his cogs turning; weighing options and trying to decide what a normal kid would do here. Finally, after almost worrying his lip raw in the span of a few seconds, Richard looks up and Jason's helmet with ice in his eyes. "Untie me, and I'll come with you."

"Is that all?" Jason resists laughing, but he does keep a smirk on his face as he pulls a knife from his belt and turns the kid around. 

Richard goes even more stiff than before, if that's even possible, as Jason brings the knife to the zip-ties around his wrists. Jason has to maneuver the knife carefully, as the bindings look tight enough to cut off circulation. It sends something angry down to his gut, and he's not sure why. 

He cuts the ties and immediately grabs Richard's upper arm again. "Let's go, these fire alarms are giving me a headache."

Richard reluctantly follows as Jason begins to lead them both out of the assembly room and into the hallway outside. There's a set of glass doors near this part of the school to make for easy access for parents coming to watch their precious little kiddies perform various things. He walks towards those doors, keeping a firm hand on Richard's arm the whole way. Nothing looks out of place, from what he can tell. The front of the school has a clear view towards the main road leading into it's mostly empty parking lot. 

Jason hopes it stays empty for a while longer. Just until he gets the kid out of here without giving either of them away. He really doesn't need Damian on his butt for being his dead little brother _or_ revealing that Red Hood knows Batman and Robin's secret identities. 

He turns from the doors. "This way," he says, walking the way he came. 

Richard makes a face at the implication of more blaring alarms right in their ears, though Jason doesn't let him complain. His bike is that direction, and it's not like Red Hood can casually stroll in front of the school with a kid in his grasp. 

"Come on," he says while dragging Richard along with a little tug. "I bet it was you who set off the alarms, so don't give me that look."

"They were going to shoot Mr Jones..." 

Jason doesn't comment on that. 

He keeps his grasp on the kid even as he reaches the emergency door he came in through. However, instead of going out the door, he enters one of the neighboring classrooms and approaches the blinded windows. 

Carefully, he lifts one of the blinds. 

He exhales. 

"Shit."

"What?" Richard asks and moves forward to see, but Jason tugs him back.

Jason worries his lip for a second, then looks at the closed blinds. 

Maybe he should have gone out the front doors. 

He glances back at Richard, trying to form a plan in his head that won't get anyone killed. 

He can only think of one. God, Damian is really gonna hate him later for this one.

"Struggle," Jason says as he turns to the kid, keeping an iron grip on his arm while he uses his free hand to reach into his pockets. 

"What?" Pure confusion flashes across Richard's face, which Jason used to his own advantage. 

Jason tugs him forward, and soon Richard is left standing with an absolutely flabbergasted look on his face following the sound of two twin _clicks_.

Jason brings his face near Richard's. "I said _struggle_."

Jason's not sure if the expression that flickers on Richard's face is realization or not. Whatever the case, Jason drags the kid towards the door with a sharp tug. Richard yelps and struggles to fully keep his balance with his wrists cuffed in front of him. 

Jason doesn't spare a glance. Just takes a mental deep breath before kicking open the door. 

Five obnoxiously green vans line the small parking lot in front of him, each filled with only their respective drivers. At least a dozen goons stand in front of the cars, guns lifted in their hands in tense surprise.

And in the middle of it all, the Riddler himself stands smugly while leaning against his cane. 

"Shrouded in death and branded by Knight, he sits in crimson ruins, plundering Orpheus' rooms."

Jason can't help his scoff. "How long have you been waiting to use that one?"

The Riddler grins and lifts a gloved hand to the brim of his hat. "Ever since you first started making moves. Now, riddle me this, why would the Red Hood, who's notoriously protective of children, be interested in this one?"

Richard chooses that moment to try and elbow Jason's stomach and jerk out of his grasp. However, Jason's body armor covers most, if not all, of the impact. He keeps his grasp on Richard's arm strong and tugs him closer. Richard makes a very believable sound of frustration. 

"Come on, Riddler, we both know rich brats don't count."

The Riddler looks thoughtful for a second. "What happened to the others? What do you want?"

Richard struggles briefly in his hold when Riddler's eyes fall into the kid. Jason holds strong. "I came in just as security was takin' them down. You really need to show your associates how to properly shoot a gun." Jason pauses, gauging Riddler's cool exterior. He didn't look shocked at the aspect that his goons are lousy shots. Jason clears his throat and all begins to walk forward with Richard in tow. "As for what I want? I want in."

"You want in," Riddler repeats, almost in a deadpan. But Jason can see the calculative interest. "And for exchange?"

The goons behind Riddler nervously shift their feet when Jason reaches a small distance between their leader and himself. "Money. What else? The kid can fetch a hefty price from his daddy, and I want a share."

Riddler's eyes narrow. "And what makes you think you're _that_ needed."

Jason smirks under his helmet and presses the expression into the tone of his voice. "I'm the best bet you have against any bat interference and you _know_ it."

If that offends any of the criminals in front of him, only the lackeys show it. Riddler's eyes simply flicker down and Jason feels Richard stiffen. 

The kid is getting antsy and nervous. Jason can easily tell. It's a dangerous situation they're in. Even though his face is covered, he resists chewing his own bottom lip raw as Riddler adopts a thoughtful expression. 

Jason risks speaking again. "I hear bats are rather defensive of the Wayne's. You know what Ziraith did to Joker. Do you really want to risk that?"

Finally, Riddler looks back at Jason with sharp, deceived eyes. "Keep the bats away till the end of the game, and I'll personally hand you more than a fair share."

That seems to settle it. The goons relax ever so slightly with their leader's decision. Riddler himself looks away from Jason to nod towards his goons to perhaps grab Richard themselves, but Jason chooses that vulnerable moment to strike. 

Jason may not be the quickest gunslinger in the west, but he very might as well be in the east. Before anyone can do anything, Jason shoves Richard away from him, pulls out his gun, and then violently knocks the grip across Riddler's skull. His dumb bowler hat flies off his head as the villain cries out in shock. For a second the green of his suit matches the creeping in green of his Lazarus tainted vision; Jason finds himself imagining Riddler limp on the ground, red splattered behind a hole through the back of his head, painting the sidewalk crimson with gore.

Then he remembers the kid in his grasp and that Riddler is probably one of the only rogue villains that probably deserves a life sentence more than execution. He blinks away the green and pushes Richard away from him with a single "run!"

Richard does, and the grunts are too outraged by their ambushed employer to care. 

Jason doesn't have time to watch Richard run before multiple lackeys jump him. 

What begins as a frenzied fistfight which reminds Jason of a rave gone wrong, soon changes into open fire as the goons all realize one after the other that they have guns. 

Jason manages to take a small handful down before he's forced to take cover behind one of their cars. The windows above him shatter as the grunts aim and fire aimlessly, which makes it all the easier for Jason to quickly poke his head out and fire at the idiots who are trying to reload their guns after wasting all their ammunition. 

A particularly harsh wave of gunfire hits the car's side, forcing him to curl up tight on the other side behind the front tire. 

Vaguely, through the shower of gunpowder—the noise of which has definitely caught the attention of the cops by now if the fire alarms haven't—he hears Riddler shout. 

"Ignore Hood you imbeciles! Get the brat!"

Jason pokes his head up just in time to watch a small handful of goons immediately do as they're told. They turn in the direction that Richard ran off in. Jason decides enough is enough. He pulls a round circular device from his pockets and rolls if under the car. The majority of the goons are too busy shooting to notice it. 

There's a bang, a bright flash, some shouts of pain and alarm, and Jason _runs_. 

They're stunned. The ones who are not don't start shooting until Jason's almost to the city. 

The unmistakable sound of bullets ricocheting off of cement and brick hits his ears, as well as the sound of sparks near his feet. He keeps running into the mazes of Gotham's alleyways, only stumbling a second when something violently slams into the back of his shoulder. 

He hopes the bullet didn't pierce his armor. Either way, his arm is already pulsing with agony, but he cannot stop yet. He enters the city and leaves Riddler and all of his goons behind for the moment.

He follows the trail of fresh footsteps through Gotham's general muck on the ground until he's turning a corner to find Richard struggling vainly in the grasp of a goon; his cuffed hands scrambling to dig his fingernails into the arm wrapped around his chest. There's two other goons. One is on the ground holding his crotch—which sends a shard of pride right into Jason's soul—and the other is just barely turning around to raise his gun. 

Jason shoots him first. Then, the one holding Richard lifts his pistol to shove at the side of Richard's skull. 

Jason shoots him too before the barrel can even touch the kid's temple. 

Jason ignores his aching arm as he strides forward and grabs Richard's hands. He unlocks the cuffs. 

"Let's skedaddle," he says through teeth gritted through pain. "Before more come."

Richard nods his head, fire in his eyes. Trust in his eyes. 

And damn, that look of trust hurts more than his shot up shoulder. Hopefully the kid doesn't normally trust people this easily.

Because Richard doesn't know. He doesn't know the plans he has for Gotham. What he will do if Batman and Robin get in his way. 

Jason shoves those thoughts deep within his mind and grabs Richard by the arm. Without another word, he slowly speeds up into a jog with Richard running at his side. With the shouts of lackeys behind them, Jason eventually leads Richard to his bike. With no words exchanged, Richard scrambles onto the bike in front of Jason's chest. He's small—so small... how old is he again?—so it's easy for Jason to reach around him and grab onto the motorcycle handles.

Just as he starts the bike, trigger happy lackeys enter their alleyway. Jason revs the engine and immediately takes off at full speed, not trusting himself to drive and shoot at the same time with his busted arm.

As he drives into the city that's ever so slowly beginning to turn orange in the smoggy setting sky, he realizes he doesn't really know where to bring Richard now. He can't bring him to the police; there're so many criminals spies in there that it would be easier to list the Rogues in Gotham that _don't_ have a spy hidden amongst the badges. He can't bring him to the manor because Jason doubts the incredible amount of security there has gone rusty during Bruce's absence. 

He's so stuck in thought that he almost doesn't notice the blockade until Richard points ahead of him and shouts. 

Jason swears and swerves his cycle, avoiding the barrels pointed in his direction. Riddler is pulling all the stops for this kid, even hiring extra help.

Jason briefly wonders if he gives his lackeys extra benefits and if that's why he has so many as he swerves off the road he was on and onto another.

He hears shouting behind him as he speeds away. He needs to find somewhere safe. _Fast_. 

He takes turns by instinct, trying to find someplace safe, until he finally finds himself stopping right in front of a dead end. 

He can hear loud engines behind him. He can't turn back. 

"Off," he hisses, and Richard doesn't need to be told twice. With the kid's help, they stuff the bike behind a dumpster, and then Jason grabs the kid and lifts them both onto the fire escape above. 

He climbs as far as he can before he can hear the sound of rubber pushing through old and cracked asphalt. Before the van drives into their dead end, Jason shoves Richard behind him and squeezes tightly into the corner of the fire escape. His bad shoulder pulses from the strain.

The car stays there for a minute, then backs up and drives away. 

The sky is going dark now, both with the settings sun and with the rain clouds that finally open. 

Jason releases something caught between a grunt and a sigh.

"Don't worry," Richard whispers, "Batman will come."

Jason has to almost physically restrain himself from laughing bitterly. Instead, he moves far enough across the fire escape for Richard to stretch his legs a little. 

"For your sake kid," Jason says, "I hope so."

Richard makes a face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jason bites his lip. Before he can respond, however, something heavy launches itself into his side. 

Jason just barely manages to release his grapple hook to slow his fall, but either way landing on the hard concrete down below combined with the heavily armored weight on top of him... it's enough to knock the wind out of Jason and cause agony to shoot up his bad arm.

When he sees the black suit and the angry set to a familiar jaw, Jason doesn't allow himself time to catch his breath, because the devil knows Damian won't. 

He throws out his good fist, knocking it across Batman's jaw hard enough to send the bigger man rolling off Jason. Jason can vaguely hear Richard shout from above, but Batman pounces again. Jason just barely manages to kick him back to give him enough room to stand up. Out of defence, Jason instinctively goes for his guns. However, he doesn't get the chance to draw anything because it seems Batman doesn't want to give him _any room_ to get any kind of upper hand. A fist flies towards his face, which forces Jason to lift his forearms to block the blow. 

The pressure rattles Jason's bones—rattles them straight to the wound which causes him to release a grunt of pain. He can see the exact second Batman notices Jason is injured, just like Jason can practically see his cogs begin to turn on how to exploit that. 

Jason pushes Batman back and kicks out and hits Batman's side. Batman grunts and reaches to his belt, pulling out a handful of batarangs. However, he's in for a nasty surprise when he turns towards Jason to see Jason finally has his gun out and aimed. 

"Stop it!" Richard shouts, a lot closer than what Jason was expecting. Probably closer than what Batman was expecting too, seeing as he immediately turns his body to better protect the area where the voice came from. 

Richard, however, has none of it. He runs in front of Batman and grabs onto his arm, forcing him to lower his loaded arm. 

"He helped me- don't fight him-" Richard babbles. 

"Explain," is all Damian says.

As Richard quickly begins to ramble ourt their situation with the Riddler, Jason allows himself to slowly put down his handgun. 

"He helped me escape, so you _can't_ fight him now."

If this were Bruce, Jason can easily imagine Bruce's frown and glare. " _He's still a criminal_ ," he might say. 

But not Damian. Damian of all people knows the world isn't so black and white. 

"You have one minute to get out of my sight," he says while laying a hand on Richard's shoulder and protectively pushing him behind his body. "I'll let you go this time, Hood."

 _You don't have to tell me twice_ , Jason thinks while returning his gun to its holster. He takes a step back. 

"Riddler's men are still searching for him," Jason says. 

Jason can almost hear Damian's _Tt_ , but he disguises it with a grunt. "I will handle it."

Jason nods, trying not to think about those little tilts in Damian's voice that almost makes Jason miss home... miss the manor. He takes a deep breath and transfers his grapple into his hand. 

"Take care of the kid, Batman," he says. "I don't take kindly to kids getting hurt."

Damian doesn't say anything, just nods. Jason quickly tugs his bike out from behind the dumpster and jumps on. He glances behind him only once, just to find Damian kneeling down next to Richard and checking him over for injuries. Something twists in Jason's gut, and he's not sure if it's jealousy or something else...

Jealousy that Richard's Batman came for him. 

Either way, he leaves quickly after that, forcing his brain to shut up so he doesn't have any sort of mental spiral on the way back to his safe house. Once he's home, he collapses onto the sofa and releases the biggest exhale known to mankind. 

He hopes he doesn't meet Richard again. He hopes he doesn't run into Robin. Jason no longer knows what he would do if he meets his little replacement.

He kicks off his shoes and leans back in the sofa. No use worrying about it now. He needs to sleep and find that dealer again... He has work to do. 

When his eyes finally close, he doesn't dream of returning to the manor and having a younger brother. 

No, he doesn't dream about that at all...

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope this was enjoyable :)
> 
> Note on Damian's adult superhero name; It doesn't have any meaning besides me combining the words "wraith" and "zil" together. I think it sounds cool.
> 
> Credit to Riddler's little riddle about Jason goes to the fantastic CKBookish. Thanks CK!


End file.
